Presidential Dollars

Search Values

Presidential Dollars

Presidential Dollars

Could third try be a charm for small dollar coin? By Beth Deisher COIN WORLD Staff Within two years of introduction in 2000, it was evident the Sacagawea dollar would suffer the same fate as its predecessor, the Anthony dollar. Given a choice, the p...READ MORE

Presidential Dollars

Presidential Dollars

Could third try be a charm for small dollar coin?
By Beth Deisher
COIN WORLD Staff
Within two years of introduction in 2000, it was evident the Sacagawea
dollar would suffer the same fate as its predecessor, the Anthony
dollar. Given a choice, the public would choose the $1 note rather than
a dollar coin. Although studies suggested a dollar coin would save the
government up to $500 million per year due to replacement costs (the
coin would circulate up to 30 years and the paper equivalent would last
between 14 and 18 months), practicality and habit still reigned.
However, Rep. Michael Castle, R-Del., was determined to find a way to
obtain greater circulation. He looked to the success of the 50 State
quarter dollars program and began advocating a redesign of the dollar
coin. His idea was bolstered by a national survey and study conducted by
the Government Accountability Office that indicated many Americans who
did not seek or who rejected the Sacagawea dollar for use in commerce
would actively seek a dollar coin if attractive, educational rotating
designs were to be struck on the coin. In a bipartisan pact, Castle and
Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., introduced legislation Feb. 18, 2005, that
sought to redesign the Sacagawea dollar coin beginning in 2007 to
feature images of U.S. presidents on the obverse and the Statue of
Liberty on the reverse. However, the Sacagawea dollar had its
constituency in Congress and a compromise was forged that allowed the
continued production of the Sacagawea dollar for collector sales. The
compromise legislation was signed into law (PL 109-145) on Dec. 22,
2005, by President Bush. Castle noted: "Just like the State quarter
program that has been so successful, the Presidential dollar coins bill
is a win-win proposition. The Presidential coins will teach history
while generating revenue for the U.S. Treasury. I am also very excited
that New York's most famous resident and most powerful symbol, Lady
Liberty, will grace the back of each coin." The Presidential $1
Coin Act of 2005 authorized the production of Presidential dollars coins
for circulation as well as the First Spouse gold bullion coin program,
which also included bronze medals. The Presidential dollars, to be
issued at the rate of four per year, were specified to retain the same
golden color and alloy of the Sacagawea dollar. The obverse of each coin
would feature the name and image of a U.S. president, as well as dates
of the term of office and a number representing the order of service.
The reverse would bear a likeness of the Statue of Liberty extending to
the rim of the coin, along with the inscriptions of $1 and UNITED STATES
OF AMERICA. The law also specified the movement of certain inscriptions
and other statutory requirements to the edges of the Presidential
dollars: E PLURIBUS UNUM, IN GOD WE TRUST, and the year of issue. Mint
officials elected to also place the Mint mark on the edge. The reasoning
behind moving these design elements to the edge was to allow larger and
more dramatic artwork on the coins reminiscent of the so-called
"Golden Age of Coinage" in the United States at the beginning
of the 20th century. In reaction to error Presidential dollars
produced during the first year of issue without any inscriptions on the
edge, amendments embedded in the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2007
directed the U.S. Mint to move the motto IN GOD WE TRUST on Presidential
dollars from the edge to the coins' obverse or reverse "as soon as
practical." Because the 2008 designs were already in production by
the time the legislation was signed into law, the change became
effective in 2009. The motto was moved to the obverse on the left under
the portrait of the president. Presidential dollars are to be issued in
the order of service, beginning with George Washington. However, the
authorizing law prohibits a coin being issued honoring a living former
or current president, or of any deceased former president during the
two-year period following the date of the death of that president. That
mandate would indicate a program extending through at least 2014. It
prescribes that only one design shall be issued for a period of service
for any president, no matter how many consecutive terms of office the
president served. However, if a president served during two or more
nonconsecutive periods of service, a coin shall be issued for each such
nonconsecutive period of service. The authorizing law also specified
that the director of the U.S. Mint should take all reasonable steps to
ensure the circulation and public acceptance of the Presidential dollar
coins, including periodic reports to Congress on the efforts and
progress of the program. It also set forth provisions for the continued
striking of Sacagawea dollars on a percentage basis of the number of
Presidential coins struck. Upon the termination of the Presidential
dollar coin program, the law specifies that production of dollar coins
shall revert to the Sacagawea design.

Coin values search results

LIBERTY CAP RIGHT HALF CENT

THE SMALLEST DENOMINATION

Although it may seem unusual today, the United States government once issued a coin worth less than one cent: the half cent. The copper U.S. half cent was authorized for production on April 2, 1792. During its 64-year lifespan as a circulating denomination, five different basic design types of the tiny (0.93-inch) coin were struck. The coins were struck at the Philadelphia Mint and do not have a Mint mark. The half cent's designers and engravers are among the best known names in U.S. Mint design/engraving history: Adam Eckfeldt, Robert Scot, John Gardner, Gilbert Stuart, John Reich and Christian Gobrecht. Designs for the half cent were also used on other denominations through the years. The 1793 Liberty Cap half cent features a lettered edge stating TWO HUNDRED FOR A DOLLAR. The obverse depicts a bust of Liberty with flowing hair, facing left. A Liberty Cap on a pole rests on her right shoulder giving the design its name, the Liberty Cap. The design for the Liberty Cap half cent was based on Agustin Dupre's Libertas Americana medal. Half cents struck between 1794 and 1797 bear another Liberty Cap design, this one facing right, and issued in Plain Edge, Lettered Edge and Gripped Edge varieties. From 1800 to 1808 the Draped Bust design was used on half cents. All half cents bearing those dates are Plain Edge varieties. The Classic Head design was used on half cents struck between 1809-1836. From 1849 to 1857, a Coronet design with Plain Edge was used. All half cents have a wreath on the reverse. The key dates in the series are 1793; 1796, No Pole; 1802/0, Reverse of 1800; and 1831.